Platform lifts are sometimes used in industrial environments, such as assembly plants, that include areas with differences in elevation. Some assembly plants, for instance, include a floor-level loading area and an elevated assembly area. In these assembly plants, after part carriers are loaded with parts at loading areas, platform lifts are sometimes used to lift the part carriers to support their movement to assembly areas, where the part carriers are unloaded of their parts. Conversely, after the part carriers are unloaded of their parts at the assembly areas, platform lifts are sometimes used to lower the part carriers to support their movement back to the loading areas, where the part carriers are re-loaded with parts.
To perform these functions, the platform lifts include platforms that may be selectively lifted and lowered to selectively lift and lower onboard part carriers. In the above-described assembly plants, part carriers may be transferred between the platforms and the floor when the platforms are lowered, and between the platforms and the assembly areas when the platforms are lifted.
In one configuration of platform lifts, their platforms are lifted and lowered from underneath. In this configuration, space is required below the platforms to accommodate lifting componentry. As a result, the platforms, when lowered, must be somewhat elevated from the floor, which may complicate the transfer of part carriers between the platforms and the floor. Otherwise, the lifting componentry must be accommodated in pits, which are both expensive to install and unconducive to the overall flexibility of assembly plants.